"A succinct narrative of Captain Beerings's Travels into Siberia:"
with a reduction of the above-mentioned map, on which there is no trace
of the island of St. Demetrius, even its name, which alone appears on
the Du Halde map, is here omitted. Otherwise this version of the map
does not differ from Du Halde's, more than one copy of a drawing
usually differs from another. When Bering started on his expedition he
was accompanied by two cartographers (Bergh, First Voy. of the Russ.
pp. 2-5, fide Lauridsen) Luzhin and Potiloff, and to one or both of
them under Bering's direction the construction of the map in question
was probably due.
When Bering made his report it was accompanied by a list of positions
for important places visited by the Expedition.
Dr. Campbell, while gathering material for his second edition of
Harris' Voyages, procured a copy of this unpublished list of positions
and prints it in his account of Bering's travels, with the comment that
it was sent by Bering from Kamchatka, before his return to Russia, and
to the Senate at St. Petersburg, to which Bering did not report.
Whether due to the transcriber or the printer there are several very
obvious errors in the list as printed by Campbell, and when it is
compared with Bering's own list we see that there are also several
interpolations.
But the positions adopted in the chart, said by Du Halde to have been
brought to St. Petersburg by Bering on his return (a statement
confirmed by the mention of a chart in the report itself), are not
identical with the positions enumerated in the list. This leads to the
suspicion that Bering's first chart was not published, and that the
chart issued was due to a recomputation and revision of his data. This
suspicion is made stronger by the statement of Lauridsen, who gives no
authority, however, that Bering's chart was made in Moscow in 1731,[4]
though this may merely mean that some of the copies which were
distributed to various personages were so prepared.
[Footnote 4: Lauridsen, Am. ed., p. 57.]
These manuscript copies of the chart and report were sent to various
foreign courts, as a matter of general interest, by the Russian
authorities. The copy used by Du Halde was communicated to him by the
King of Poland who had received it as a "Present worthy of his regard
and curiosity" (Du Halde, iv, p. 439, Brookes' ed.). Other copies were
sent to Sweden and probably to England and other countries. In the
journal, "Ymer," of the Swedish Society for Anthropology and Geography
(1884, p. 93) is a short notice by E. Dahlgren of three manuscript
copies of Bering's chart of his first expedition, or rather of charts
embodying its results. Two of these charts are in the Royal archives of
Sweden and measures 58 x 135 cm. One of them is ornamented with ten
colored drawings of natives of Siberia. The other is without these but
does not seem to be a copy of the first as it has a number of soundings
between St. Lawrence and the Diomede Islands which are not on the
former, and some names which are peculiar to it. Both have many more
names than are given on the chart published by Du Halde. Both of the
manuscripts have a legend referring to the coast from the Kolyma
eastward, on the north coast of Siberia, to the effect that it is put
down from older charts and information, doubtless furnished by the
archives at Yakutsk. The third copy is in the possession of Baron
Robert Klinckofström, of Stafsund, Sweden.
Through the kind offices of Baron Nordenskiöld and the generosity of
Baron Klinckofström, the last mentioned chart has been forwarded to the
writer through the Smithsonian Institution for examination. It appears
to be essentially the same as the second of the two charts referred to
as comprised in the Royal Swedish Archives. The result of my
examination of it leads me to the belief that there were two different
charts sent out in manuscript by the Russian authorities. The first,
which I regard as the earlier, and which is certainly more accurate,
shows the island of St. Demetrius in its proper place in accordance
with Bering's Report and list of positions. It formed the basis of
Campbell's engraving which will be referred to later, and of the chart
which appears in the various editions of Du Halde. It is possible that
this represents the original chart prepared by Bering in Kamchatka
during the winter of 1728-9. The second and probably later form of the
chart is represented by the Klinckofström chart, upon which the name
and island of St. Demetrius have vanished and a smaller island in the
corresponding latitude is represented close to the Siberian coast and
westward from the meridian passing through the eastern extreme of East
Cape. This island is named the island of St. Diomede. If it is intended
as a revised position for the island of St. Demetrius of the other
chart and of Bering's Report, it is in conflict with the facts and with
the position assigned to St. Demetrius in the report. No one who had
sailed between St. Demetrius and East Cape could have sanctioned such a
position for the island with honesty. If a different island is intended
the question arises, Why is St. Demetrius omitted? This second chart is
obviously the basis upon which in D'Anville's chart of Asia (1753) the
configuration of the eastern extreme of Siberia is based, and I suspect
that the chart of the Imperial Academy of Sciences at St. Petersburg
and the reproduction of Jefferys, were also derived from it as far as
this region is concerned.
It would be rash, in the absence of authentic information which only
the Russian archives can supply, to hazard an opinion as to the origin
of the important difference between these charts. I may return to this
point later. Apart from this, it may be added that the northern coast
of Siberia from East Cape west to Cape Shelagskoi is represented as
mountainous throughout its extent. A legend states that it is laid down
from older charts and information. This relieves Bering from the
responsibility for the fictitious or at least grossly erroneous and
exaggerated form and direction given to Cape Shelagskoi on his chart.
The west coast of the Okhotsk sea and part of its northeastern shores
not visited by Bering are stated to be laid down from "information."
This map is not dated and the blank space in the title left for
Bering's autograph has never been filled. No name of draughtsman or
place or authority of issue are indicated upon it. It measures 51 by
20-1/8 inches between the neat-lines. It is in black and white, the
mountains washed in, the only color being small green trees as a
conventional sign for wooded country. A copy of the earlier chart fell
into the hands of Dr. Campbell and was published by him in his edition
of Harris' Voyages,[5] together with a version of the report which is
more or less mutilated and to which the editor to make his book more
readable has added certain flowers of rhetoric which detract from its
accuracy. Campbell's copy of the map is the most perfect yet published
and the only one showing the island of St. Demetrius in its proper
place.
[Footnote 5: HARRIS, JOHN. Complete collection of Voyages and travels
[etc.]. London, T. Woodward [and others] 1748. 2 v. folio, maps and
plates, Vol. 2, pp. 1016-1041, is devoted to a discussion of Bering's
discoveries, entitled: Book III, Section VIII. "A distinct account of
part of the northeast frontier of the Russian Empire, commonly called
the country of Kamschatka or Kamschatska including the voyages of
Captain Behring for discovering toward the East [etc.], collected from
the best authorities both printed and manuscript."]
In Du Halde's copy and those derived from it the eastern border of the
chart has cut off the island, though in some of them, as in that of
1736, the name remains. The only fault to be noted in Campbell's
edition of Bering's map is the omission by the engraver of the small
bay named Preobrazhenia by Bering and which, though it is not named,
appears on the other editions of the map. The title is as follows:
"An exact chart of all the countries through which Cap^t. Behring
travelled, from Tobolski Capital of Siberia to the country of
Kamtschatka."
The size of the map is 7 x 12¾ inches. It extends on the east to the
meridian of 126° east from Tobolsk which enables the "Isle of St.
Demetrius" (our present Big Diomede) to appear in its proper place. The
editions previously reported have all stopped at the 124th meridian,
thus cutting off the island, whose name sometimes appeared and
sometimes did not.
It will be observed that Dr. Campbell in this paper was the means of
introducing the erroneous and obnoxious Germanized spelling of Bering's
name into English literature. This is a pretty good indication that he
had no autographic documents from Bering himself, and that his
manuscripts were obtained from German sources, or at least had been
transcribed into the German language. In his thorough search of the
literature of the subject and lengthy discussion of the results, Dr.
Campbell undoubtedly gathered the fullest account of the first
expedition which had up to that date been printed. In order to enliven
his history of the proceedings, the good Doctor occasionally rises to
flights of fancy, and the theories he held were long since proved
erroneous.
There are several other English translations of Du Halde's China, of
which the following is the most important:
"A description of the empire of China and Chinese-Tartary, together
with the kingdoms of Korea, and Tibet: containing the geography and
history (natural as well as civil) of those countries. From the French
of P. J. B. Du Halde, Jesuit. Illustrated with general and particular
maps, and adorned with a great number of cuts. With notes geographical,
historical and critical, and other improvements, particularly in the
maps, by the Translator." London, Edward Cave, 1741. 2 vols. folio,
maps and ills.
This edition does not show the name of the translator, but he was
evidently a man of no small attainments as a geographer and
cartographer, and introduced numerous improvements and corrections into
the charts of D'Anville, which accompanied the original edition of Du
Halde. A copy of this was presented to the library of Harvard College
by the province of New Hampshire in 1765-6, for an opportunity of
examining which I am indebted to the courtesy of Mr. Justin Winsor, the
Librarian.
The text of this edition, compared with that of 1736, is as much as
possible abridged, yet contains nothing not in the original, but the
map exhibits certain additions to be noted. This map is entitled,
"A Map of Capt. Beerings' travels from Tobolskoy to Kamchatka between
y^e years 1725 and 1730. With improvements by y^e Editor." It contains
the following note by the editor. "Capt. Beerings probably observ'd y^e
Lat.^d in y^e Principal places thro' w^{ch} he pass'd, tho' two
Observations only are mentioned in his Journal. But M^r Kyrilow in his
Map of the Russian Empire does not follow y^e Author in this respect
for instance he places Ilimski 1° 30' more north, Yakutskoy 2° more
south, and Cape Chiokotskago 1° more south than Cap^t. Beerings;
likewise other places in Proportion. I have reckon'd y^e Long^d of
Tobolskoy from Paris according to an Eclipse of y^e Sun observed at
Hamburg and Tobolskoy, mentioned by Mr. Strahlenberg in his account of
y^e Northern parts of Europe and Asia. This is all that can be done
till y^e return of y^e Russian Mathematicians sent to make observations
and discoveries throughout Siberia." Then follows a line "Inscribed to
Francis Gashrey Esq^r."
The main body of the chart is that of Du Halde's original and the scale
is the same, but the height of the neat-lines is only 8-5/8 inches.
Bering's track from Okhotsk to Bolsheretsk, across Kamchatka, northward
to 67° 18'; also his track eastward from Kamchatka in 1729 and around
the peninsula to Bolsheretsk and Okhotsk; are indicated by dotted
lines. The two latitudes noted in Bering's journal are indicated on
this map by a +, and the northern one is placed near the Asiatic coast
in latitude 118° E. from Tobolsk. At the top of the map the supposed
Paris meridians[6] are indicated, a difference between Paris and
Tobolsk being assumed of 70° degrees, which is about five degrees too
much. There are also sundry infelicities in the transliteration of the
names from the French of D'Anville.
[Footnote 6: In the Campbell map these are taken as east from London
with an allowance of 67° between London and Tobolsk.]
A chart which deserves notice, though almost wholly fictitious, being
chiefly devoted to the spurious discoveries of the alleged Admiral de
Fonte, was issued by J. N. de L'Isle with the concurrence of M. P.
Buache, or at his suggestion. It appeared at Paris, in 1752, and was
copied for Jefferys' (2d) edition of Voyages from Asia to America in
1764. I do not know if this copy appeared in the first edition, but
presume it did.
For present purposes the interesting features of this map are as
follows:
Opposite the eastern extreme of the Chukchi peninsula there is
represented part of America with the legend, "Terres vues par Mr.
Spanberg in 1728, frequentées à présent par les Russes, qui en
apportent de très belles fourrures." In the English edition the legend
is "Seen by Spanberg 1728." Four islands are represented in the strait
between Asia and America, corresponding in a general way to the four
now known to exist there. Connected with America and north of the
Chukchi peninsula is land with an island off it corresponding not badly
to Wrangell and Herald Islands, and marked "Discovered in 1722." It is
possible that this land is a hypothetical compound of the land reported
by the Chukchis east of the strait with that which they knew to be
visible in clear weather from Cape Yakan, more or less confused
accounts of which had long been current among persons interested in
these regions.
The next chart of note in this connection was published by D'Anville,
the royal geographer of France, who had previously prepared the
original map of Bering for publication. He issued a general map of
Asia, in three parts, each of two leaves which could be joined
together, of which the first part appeared in 1751 and the third part
in 1753, entitled:
Troisième Partie de la Carte/d'Asie,/contenant/La Sibérie/et quelques
autres parties/de la Tartarie,/Publiée sous les Auspices de
Monseigneur/Louis-Philippe d'Orléans/Duc d'Orléans/Prémier Prince du
Sang./Par le S^r. d'Anville,/Sécrétaire de Son Alt^s.
Sereniss^s./MDCCLIII./Avec Privilége./
This map is in two sheets (each 20 x 21 inches), the engraving of the
geographical part by Guill. de la Haye and of the ornamental title by
De Lafosse. The longitude is reckoned from Ferro, and the map is
constructed on a scale of 23 French leagues to 60 geographical miles.
The boundaries are colored and the sea shore shaded with short
horizontal lines. It is on the polyconic projection.
This map includes many of the additions to geography in eastern Siberia
which were due to the members of the great Siberian expedition. The
courses and branches of the rivers especially were augmented and
corrected as well as named. The branches of the Anadyr River were
represented and named, but as no new information in regard to the coast
had been received at that date, this river was still mapped as entering
the sea to the south and west of Cape Thaddeus, as erroneously laid
down by Bering, who confounded with the Anadyr a small river which does
come in here, and passed the estuary of the true Anadyr without seeing
it. The coast lines are essentially those of Bering. Beyond the basins
of the Kolyma and Anadyr is marked "Terre inconnue"; a small supplement
in the north-east corner of the map, on half the scale of the map,
represents the north-east extreme of Asia as delineated by Bering. This
little supplement is of considerable interest as it gives fuller
information than that which appears on the original publication of Du
Halde, perhaps from a more modern version of Bering's chart, as
previously suggested.
Several names appear for the first time in cartographic history, upon
this map. Preobrazhenia Bay; Bolshoia River falling into Holy Cross
Bay, and the "Isle de St. Diomide" are among these. The Island of St.
Demetrius is omitted, as well as its name. The Island of St. Diomide is
placed about on a line between East Cape and Cape Chukotski, to the
westward of the meridian of East Cape. There is a discrepancy averaging
about five minutes in latitude and longitude between the positions on
this map and those on the second version of the Bering manuscript
charts. But in the main these differences are, I suspect, merely due to
carelessness in copying, and the general harmony between the two leads
to the belief that the D'Anville outline for this region was based on
the second version of the manuscript.
The differences of position for points on this part of the coast are
numerous. I have noted them in the comparative table of positions
herewith. They may be chiefly owing to slips in transferring from the
Mercator to the Polyconic projection; but some of them are due to new
information, probably derived from the surveyors of the second
expedition. Bering island appears on the map, in about its proper
place, though Copper island is not indicated, nor are any of the
Aleutians shown. I suspect this is the first publication of a
cartographic kind on which Bering island is laid down, as the map of
the Imperial Academy of Sciences, embodying the geographical results of
Bering's Voyage to the coast of America, was not engraved until a year
later, while De L'Isle's of 1752 does not contain them.
The island between Cape Shelaginski and East Cape off the northern
coast, on Bering's map, is omitted by D'Anville. The Kamchatkan
peninsula in latitude 56° is represented to have a width of 180 miles,
while Bering made it 270 miles.
A most important contribution to the subject appeared in Müller's
Historical Collections known as the "Sammlung Russische Geschichte" and
published at St. Petersburg (Kayserl. Academie der Wissenschaften,
1732-64. 8°. Nine volumes.) Des dritten Bandes (erstes, zweytes und
drittes Stück, pp. 1-304, 1758) contains the original account of the
Russian Voyages toward America from which the work of Jefferys has,
with some errors and omissions, been translated. As far as regards
Bering's first voyage, there is only one error of consequence made by
Jefferys, which will be noted in its place. This book is extremely
rare, and the only copy in America which I have been able to find after
much enquiry, is in the library of the Smithsonian Institution.